For nearly three decades, we at EVC have been teaching young people to make their voices heard and change the world — one documentary at a time. Year after year, our students create extraordinary stories on urgent issues in their lives, their art and ideas reaching global audiences of more than 5 million. We couldn’t be prouder of our past students’ creative and personal accomplishments.
But we need your support to sustain this life-changing work for the next generation. Please give what you can to EVC so we can continue serving the students of our city – click here to make a secure online donation
Over this past year, EVC youth producers made documentaries with school and community partners across the city to shine a spotlight on problems including:
· the NYPD’s stop-and-frisk policy that unfairly targets young men of color, made with support from the NYCLU, Manhattan Borough President’s Office, and Fortune Society;
· the increased smoking rates among teens and communities of color, a film now used by Mount Sinai and Harlem Hospital’s smoking cessation program;
· the struggles of New York City’s disconnected young people –those 1 in 5 youth who are out of school and out of work– produced with help from the Community Service Society.
Not only have these documentaries won awards and been featured at TriBeCa and other festivals, but the youth who made them have gone on to great success. Over 90% of last year’s EVC students completed high school and went on to college or work. Many EVC graduates are now in media companies including CNN, BET, the New York Times, and Bloomberg News.
This year, EVC’s documentary arts curriculum reached nearly 1,500 students in NYC schools through our professional development teacher training program. We featured the best student works in our 3rd Annual “Youth Powered Video” Film Festival. We also launched an exciting partnership with the Film Society of Lincoln Center presenting the retrospective series, “Through Our Eyes: Three Decades of EVC Youth Documentaries.” Highlights include last week’s back-to-back sold-out screenings featuring three generations of EVC filmmakers, with a special twenty-year reunion for the crew from “Unequal Education.”
As we ring in the New Year, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating a new generation of EVC youth producers at our event, TAKING BACK NYC: EVC Youth Documentary Workshop Film Premiere,Wednesday, January 9th at 6pm at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. EVC students will debut two new documentaries on health and environmental injustices in their communities, with support from the Manhattan Coalition at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, the Partnership for a Healthier New York City and West Harlem Environmental Action, Inc (WE ACT for Environmental Justice).
As we reflect on a challenging year for New York City and schools across the nation, we remain committed to helping youth express their voice and vision for a better world. But we can’t do it with out your support. Please make a generous tax deductable donation today to EVC so we can continue reaching and teaching and transforming young lives.
To find out how to make institutional contributions and to stay involved as an EVC donor throughout the year, contact our Development and Communications Department at support@evc.org or click here for more details.
On behalf of the EVC family, we wish you and your loved ones a happy, healthy (and youthful) holiday and New Year!